New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1887-10-09

Noc beoins the Baconian's discriminating
,,or,, uoverinc over the north nor by nor
east. and east 81 this block and skipping pack'
ward ana forward, in ana out he
manages TO pick up the letters iorh-
inc tbe name of Shnkcsrcarc-provIded
YOU spell il with IN x. This is done by nine
arbitrary assumptions one for each letter linen
by thirteen more arbitrary assumptions lac man
aces 10 pick out here and there from the rest
Of the block-what hint about the pays
Of Shakespeare? No simply the following gIpDcriSh
ERA Ia writ ear ay"
Tho reader looks Mt this and no doubt thinks
i, renrcscnts the complaints of Mr.. Crowley in his
iron-barred home in the Park when his breakfast
is late. No. IL is the rich frutage Of the Bacon
cinher AS applied TO tie Stratlord cpltaph, ana
ali there il Of It, All that follows is pure invention
and ossumption, as indeed this is also. But leu
us Give Mr. Blacks own words, so that the reader
may feel sure We are not poSng fun Mt him, what
ever doubts he may have about Mr.. Black;
Tho thirteen letters below and the loft form
,,ggestrc rprrts of five other words Fra ia wTt ear
az which being completed reai' fIah0'' H'''"
wrote shakespcarcs plays
(Which. being completed, read No pohS
osinorum for Mr. Black! With one leap he crosses
n gulf as wide eternity, and dcduces iioii.
this iumble OF letters as incoherent rs pile OF
lnbNS blocks on tnc nuTN'Il HOol ih'
that Bacon wrote Shakespeare; and he does 10
os calmly as the Statue of Liberty does nothihg
whatever. lie dcgns no explanation why Fra
must moan Francis or Ia" Bacon or, above
ali whv "enrn should stand for Shakespeare
This last would be sadly unfair, indeed, Tor III
,roud rob the Baconnn of his family crest
Surely. under this system of interpretations, any
thing can mean everything, and nothing VIII
moan ANYTHING But see how must lower our
oninion of the ability of Mcssrs. Shakespeare ana
Hocon who were esteemed clever men in thcir
dav Having the greatest literary secret Oh inc
ace 20 reveal instead Of making an lhtcluSioc
record of il which shout come to light aiter
Hacons death and when 10 was out OF inc rc"oh
81 his dreaded royal mistress, they put IL ih'o
n cipher which they carefully hlde III inc "s'
plnce any one would ever think OF looking ior III
An eptaph leaving no intlmatioh thae 'n''
bovc done so; and what do they put In clphcr-
80, ,r,.liciblc statement that Bacon did write
the phys? Not Mt all. But congiomerauohoi
rcarronccd) sounds resembling nothing IN the
,,orh ca much MS the means of an epilcptlc 1t
,rrrs out that they could not frame rational
sentence. or spell at all. But Mr. Clark says
the struggle was t. express the sense In
strupolcs Of this kind IL may be observed, inc
Boconan Is Invariably ioorcd, and 1t Is only
natural that Bacon himself should have had
equally bad luck.
f. would be Of no use to tell Mr.. Clark, who
shows far more inventive genius than Mr..
Black. that the epitaph was probably not devised
by Shakespeare at all, but by parish clerk,
and was also in all probability common speci-
men of tombstone poetry in use ut that day.
Mr. IIalliwcl-Phillipps records q well authent-
Gated use of il over the grave in Covent Garden,
IN London, of o person who died in 100, and
travel was not so common in those days as 1t Is
now But Mr.. Clark finds the do2geIel iuil OF
every strange and artfu purpose" and very
dreadful indeed are some Of the meanings he gives
Ills article has parallel for complacent
(oolishness, we venture 10 say, outside Of the
Bacon Shakespeare literature, and persons who
have the taste and leisure for the study Of lit
crary curos should certainly read and preserve
it, Mr.. Clark, to do him justice, rejects sum
marily Mr.. Blacks theory that Fra Ba writ
ear ayr stands for Francis Bacon wrote Shake
spcares plays That he says, truly, is an assertion
in the air." For this much. thanks. But his own
interpretation are II possible, more remarkable;